Wahoo!! I'm done!!

I met my goal of reading 12 notable books this year. Because I joined in June or July I set the bar low and I chose several "lighter" fiction books to finish off the last part of the year. My reviews (and other posts) are here.

I'll see a lot of you on the other blog. I also expect to be reading more of the 2006 notable books in between the 2007 books (and my usual airplane fare) because many of these reviews have interested me. It's great to be part of a group that reads good books.

Joy Completes Challenge!

I'm having difficulty posting, so here's my list of books with links for this completed challenge:

New York Times Notable Book Challenge

I will be doing a synopsis of the challenge at the end of the year.

Eight down, four to go

More to keep myself straight than for any other reason, I am reporting that I have read eight of the twelve I committed to reading. I am well into the ninth and partly into the tenth (I always read more than one book at a time) so I believe I will reach my goal!

I think this challenge has been excellent because the books are not just anything you happen to like. These are all good books and worth our time.

Laura's Challenge Wrap-up

The New York Times Notable Books Challenge was one of the first I joined this year, egged on by challenge host Wendy (aka Caribousmom). I was a little embarrassed that I'd heard of so few of these notable books, and set about to correct that by reading a dozen of them. The books I read for this challenge were:

1. Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell (read in 2006)
2. The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
3. Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky
4. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (completed 3/26/07)
5. Old Filth, by Jane Gardam (completed 3/31/07)
6. Beasts of No Nation, by Uzodinma Iweala (completed 4/13/07)
7. One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson (completed 5/25/07)
8. The Translator, by Leila Aboulela (completed 5/28/07)
9. Alentejo Blue, by Monica Ali (completed 6/17/07)
10. Gate of the Sun, by Elias Khoury (completed 7/25/07)
11. Arthur & George, by Julian Barnes (completed 8/26/07)
12. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (completed 9/2/07)
13. A Woman in Jerusalem, by A.B. Yehoshua (completed 10/7/07)

Favorite Book of the Challenge: This is a real toss-up. I enjoyed Suite Francaise, Half of a Yellow Sun, and The Road the most.

Least Favorite Book: One Good Turn. This crime mystery was a pretty light read compared to the others on this list.

What I learned through this challenge: Every one of these authors was also new to me, and many of them are from outside the United States. This challenge really opened my eyes to the wealth of great literature in the world, and has inspired me to continue seek out authors from around the world.

Laura's Progress Report & List

Here's my list!

Completed (with links to reviews):

1. Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell (read in 2006)
2. The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
3. Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky
4. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (completed 3/26/07)
5. Old Filth, by Jane Gardam (completed 3/31/07)
6. Beasts of No Nation, by Uzodinma Iweala (completed 4/13/07)
7. One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson (completed 5/25/07)
8. The Translator, by Leila Aboulela (completed 5/28/07)
9. Alentejo Blue, by Monica Ali (completed 6/17/07)
10. Gate of the Sun, by Elias Khoury (completed 7/25/07)
11. Arthur & George, by Julian Barnes (completed 8/26/07
12. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (completed 9/2/07)
13. A Woman in Jerusalem, by A.B. Yehoshua (completed 10/7/07)

Amy's Progress

I didn't manage to get any books read for this challenge in August. However, I have two sitting here that I hope to get to in September:

The Omnivore's Dilemma - Pollan
Half of a Yellow Sun - Adichie

I have completed:

The Ghost Map- Johnson
The Keep - Egan
The Inhabited World - Long
The Road - McCarthy

Hope to read yet this year:

The Translator - Aboulela
Black Swan Green - Mitchell
A Woman in Jerusalem - Yehoshua
The Inheritance of Loss - Desai
Suite Francaise - Nemirovsky
Alentejo Blue - Ali

As you can see, I am hopelessly behind but I will keep plugging along.

Wendy's July/August Update

August 30, 2007: You're off the hook, Kookie! I didn't even get 10 pages into Only Revolutions before I gave up. I'm faring better with The Echo Maker...I MIGHT get through it before the month ends!

August 7, 2007: Well I did not read even one of these books in July ... sigh ... I am sinking fast with my challenges lately. Too busy. And I hate that. BUT, I refuse to give up and hope I can get to at least a couple of these books in August. Kookie - if I manage to get through Only Revolutions, I expect a party *big grin*

Oh, this has been a heck of a summer for me. I'm not really complaining - but, my consulting business has suddenly gotten very busy (I picked up a new HUGE contract and will be doing some consulting for the State of California on top of that). I am sad to say, I am falling behind in some challenges. I had planned to read several NYT Most Notables in July and probably will not even get to one. At any rate, I have these as my next "picks" to read:

1. Only Revolutions (which I half expect to be a DNF given the crappy reviews it has seen) DNF - hated it; I rate it a big fat zero
   
2. The Emperor's Child
3. A Woman in Jerusalem
4. Gate of the Sun
5. The Echo Maker If I'm lucky, I'll finish this one before the end of the month!
   

Wish me luck!!!

Giving Up

Originally posted here.



I am about 50 pages into "Eat the Document"and I once again find myself avoiding reading. So, I am calling it quits. It really is too bad because at first I was interested but the book keeps switching around and I haven’t ever really caught on to what’s going on. This may be one I come back to when I am in a different mood.

On a different note, I have joined the Book Around the World Challenge and I have added some books to my list that fit that challenge and this one. Here are my added titles that I hope to read yet this year:

• Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngochi Adichie
• The Translator - Leila Aboulela
• Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
• A Woman in Jerusalem - A.B. Yehoshua
• The Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai
• Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky
• Alentejo Blue - Monica Ali

This makes me feel better since 3 of my4 DNF's for this year are NYT Notables. It can only get better, right?

Update from 3M

Update on 5/12:

I set my goal for 10 books but will most likely do 12. I didn't follow my plan as outlined below, but I am 60% (or 50% if I read 12) finished. I'm happy with that so far. I don't know if I'll be able to complete the remaining titles until after June 30, though, because of all the other challenges I'm doing. Right now I'm reading The Stone Diaries for the bookawards group and toward the end of the month I'll start on The Known World for the Pulitzer group. I'm also trying to pack and put most of my belongings (hence, books!) into storage so my house will be mostly clutter free when we put it on the market. Packing.is.not.fun.

Finished titles:
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (to be reviewed after I re-read print version)
Everyman by Philip Roth
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
The Translator by Leila Aboulela
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

To be read:
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Arthur and George by Julian Barnes
Lisey's Story by Stephen King
Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky


Previous update on 3/15:
I have finished The Road on audio CD from the library. Although somewhat depressing, I liked it very much. Before I write a review, though, I want to read the actual print copy. Luckily, it's a short book. I've bought a copy and will "re-read" it soon. Sometimes I feel like I miss a lot when I just listen to the CD.

I have gotten quite a few NY Notable titles from the library lately. Black Swan Green, Intuition, and Half of a Yellow Sun to name a few. Hopefully I'll complete them by the end of April. I plan on finishing Suite Française and Inheritance of Loss by the end of March.

Other books I'm reading include Big Stone Gap for my f2f book group, and The Myth of Me and You for one of my online book groups.

Previous update on 3/3:

I am halfway finished with Inheritance of Loss. For anyone interested in reading that title with others this month, you may join our Yahoo group here. Our group includes several people from the NYT Notable Challenge.

After I finish Inheritance of Loss, I plan on reading Suite Française. I'm also reading The Book Thief for the Chunkster Challenge. Those two titles should go along nicely with each other.

Happy reading!
(yet another) Michelle

Sally906's Progress Report

I am currently reading The Inheritance of Loss and have to confess that I am struggling with it - I am hoping it is not going to be the first DNF (did not finish) for the year.

I have The Ghost Map ready for next up - It is going to be my 'bubble bath' read as soon as I have finished my current book 'Ladies of the Grace Adieu' for another challenge. I usually have two or three books on the go at the same time.

Completed:
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Still to do:
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - Reading Now
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson - scheduled to read in April
Digging to America by Anne Tyler
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - on order at library (I'm 3rd on list)

Amy's Progress Report

After reading several of the NYT Challenge books right off the bat I have been taking a bit of a break and doing some lighter reading. I will probably be reading "Lisey's Story" this month and possibly one of my non-fiction choices if I can fit it in.

I have decided to drop the titles that I had listed as alternates because I don't think I will have the time but I still have several of the challenge books that I am looking forward to.

See ya around blogworld and Happy Reading everyone!

Progress Report--Kookiejar

Wish me luck. I'm taking up the challenge. I'm going to attempt 'Against the Day'. As some of you will recall, only one reviewer for the Tournament of Books could even be bothered to finish the dang thing and even he didn't finish it until after he'd registered an opinion.

I know it is over 1,200 pages and apparently the story is very complicated, but I feel someone should give it a fair shake. I can't promise I'll finish it, but I currently have a copy of it in my hot little hands, so who knows? I'll probably give brief updates along the way, to let you know I'm still alive. I also have 4 other NYT books that I'm going to try to read at the same time, so you'll be hearing from me. I swear.

In the meantime, I'll post my review of 'Old Filth' tomorrow (just polishing it up right now). That is all.

Sarah (Loose Baggy Monster): Reading Update

I have not dropped off the face of the earth, but I have done a woefully pitiful job keeping up with my reading. As an update, however, I can say that I've removed a couple of books from my list (due to consistently mediocre reviews and my own growing disinterest--particularly re: Pynchon's Against the Day and Shteyngart's Absurdistan), but I might add a few based on the reviews I've read here (particularly Black Swan Green). I think I was cluttering my mind with too many library books, which made me feel like I had to read them all at once; the general result was that I read absolutely nothing! So I'm going to try a different tactic and turn to those books on my own shelves--perhaps less pressure means I will get more done. I'll try to get a chapter or two in every night and hopefully I'll have another review to post in the near future!

Here are the books I'm going to tackle ASAP in no particular order:

1. The Dream Life of Sukhanov by Olga Grushin
2. The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
3. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
4. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
5. Arthur and George by Julian Barnes

I've tried all of these at least once before being sidetracked, but I'm writing this post with the idea it might make me a little more accountable for my reading. So hopefully I'll be back with a review of one of these books in the near future....

March 2007 Update from Wendy

3/26/2007: Finished my last NYT Notable for this month!

3/25/2007 Update:

Who has read Black Swan Green? I am really engaged in this novel. The first 20-25 pages were a little difficult because of the British slang (most of which I'd never heard of and found myself laughing at), but then I got immersed in the narration and hardly noticed it anymore. I'm half way through the book and it is taking me down memory lane as to what it was like to be a kid and growing up in a small town. Fabulous story; brilliant writing!

3/23/2007 Update:

Finished The Translator...on to Black Swan Green!

3/21/2007 Update:

I finished To Kill A Mockingbird today. WOW! Loved it. Its reviewed on my blog. Now I'm ready to begin The Translator...which may pale in comparison.

3/16/2007 Update:

I just finished The Inheritance of Loss today. I can't believe how long it took me to read this book! It was beautifully written...but hard for me because of my ignorance of Indian politics. Anyway I will post a review soon as soon as I figure out what I want to say. Next on my reading list is To Kill a Mockingbird...then I'm going to read The Translator.

3/11/2007 Update:

I am about 50 pages into Inheritance of Loss. I was a little worried about this book because I have read some "fair" reviews of it. But, I'm finding that I'm enjoying Desai's lyrical writing. She has a tremendous sense of place and a beautiful way with words. I'm relishing the beauty of her language...will keep you posted *smile*.

Previous update from 3/4/2007:
Okay, I spent a little time today perusing my reading groups and challenges and figuring out what I need to read and when. I've set myself a very challenging reading month in March and revamped my plans for this challenge. If I'm going to hit 20 books in 2007, I need to be a bit more aggressive! So, in March I am planning on reading the following NYT Most Notables:

Inheritance of Loss (finished March 16, 2007)
Beasts of No Nation (finished March 5, 2007 - see my review posted on this site)
The Translator (finished March 23, 2007)
Black Swan Green (finished March 26, 2007)

This will put me ahead of my pace for the year :)

Sally906's March Update

OK - here is where I am for now - may add a few more titles in May - see how many of these I have read by then :)

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - read
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky - read
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - on order at library (I'm second on list)
Digging to America by Anne Tyler
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic -- and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson - scheduled to read in April
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - on order at library (I'm 3rd on list)

Laura's Introduction and Progress Year to Date

Hello all,

I was delighted to learn about this challenge from Wendy. I started the year with the "50 Book Challenge" which seemed like a huge goal until I got started and realized a book a week wasn't as difficult as it sounded.

So then I decided, it's not just about how many you read, but what you read. And because I've "met" so many interesting fellow readers through the Yahoo Bookworms group, LiveJournal, and LibraryThing, I've come across many other challenges to try. Not wanting to overdo it, I'm now also "Reading across Borders," and have decided to have a go at the NYT Notable Books also. I'm also keeping track of the 1001 Books to Read Before you Die. If you'd like to learn more about me and the books I've read or want to read, check out my book journal or my library.

As for the New York Times Notable books, I've read 3. I'd like to read 10 in 2007. I will post my reviews separately, but have also linked to the original review below.

1. "Black Swan Green", by David Mitchell - I read this in 2006, before I started keeping a journal
2. The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
3. Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky

"Half of a Yellow Sun" is currently waiting for me at my local library. Hopefully the ice storm currently hitting Southeastern Pennsylvania will not prevent me from getting there tomorrow!

I'm looking forward to reading and discussing with all of you ...

Amy's Progress Report

I am currently reading "Golden Country" but I am only about 20 pgs into it. Not really far enough to have much of an opinion except to say that I like what I have read so far.

I have "The Road" and am currently #1 on the waiting list at the library for "The Ghost Map". I have high hopes of reading them before the end of March. However, I am also reading a lengthy book("The Tea Rose") for my April TBR challenge and I have a book that I am trying to read for the lenten season that I would like to finish within the next week, so that may delay my progress a bit.

I am still here and pluggin' along though! I haven't had a lot of time to check in lately but I hope everyone is enjoying their reading.

I look forward to hearing about it!

I also wanted to add that I am dropping a couple of books on my list to alternates and adding one(thanks to Michelle's review)

I am going to drop "The Echo Maker" "The Use of Enchantments" and "The Inheritance of Loss" to alternates. I will read them if I have time but they are not top priority. I am adding "Apex Hides the Hurt" because Michelle's review really piqued my interest.

Progress Report--Kookiejar

Just like two weeks ago, when I last checked in, I am only 50 pages into 'Half of a Yellow Sun', however with a few books from this month's stack cleared away, I should be getting back to that one.

In other news, I have finished 'The Keep' and 'Terrorist' and will post reviews of them before long. Trying to space them out a little. Also trying to figure out how to write a review of 'The Keep' that doesn't give too much away.

Looking forward to starting 'Alentejo Blue', 'Old Filth' and 'Golden Country' before the month is up. Barring any unforseen book ambush, of course.

Unrelated to this challenge, I gave up on my March TBR book so that freed me up to finish my third Chunkster, which will breeze by because I am loving it. I'll be posting a review of that at the end of the month on my blog.

Anxiously awaiting news of your progess.

Joy's Progress

I'm just waiting to be informed by the library that my hold on The Inheritance of Loss (Desai) is in. I'm reading for other challenges as I wait.

*After finally receiving the book from the library and giving it much thought, I have decided NOT to read The Inheritance of Loss. I did not have it as part of my original 12 and added it due to another book group, but ultimately...I don't have any interest in reading this book at this time.

Wendy's Update and Thoughts

Wow...I'm away for a day and a half and things get busy!!

I've been catching up on some group reads lately, but should be starting Inheritance of Loss within a week. I also plan on reading Beasts of No Nation and The Translater this month.

It would be really great if people would put a copy of their reviews on this site, with a label including the title so that with one click we could read all the reviews in one place (I also think it would make it easier to have "discussions" through the comments this way). What I have done is copy/paste my review from my blog to this site, and then provide a link back to my blog. Make sense?

Also, in order to keep the label list down to a manageable number, I've removed the 'currently reading' label and just put all these posts under a 'progress' label. I hope that works for all of you!

I love that we have an enthusiastic group here! I'm so glad you all decided to join me on this "personal" challenge :)